The clinical department for cardiovascular surgery of the UMCL employs 10 specialist surgeons, three residents, and 128 nurses and medical technicians. They treat more than 2,000 patients per year in the hospital, and they examine more than 11,000 patients in their outpatient clinics.

UMCL announced today that they have managed to reduce waiting periods for open heart surgery by performing elective and urgent procedures seven days per week, including Saturdays and Sundays until 9 p.m., working in three operating theatres. Until this day they have performed 958 heart surgeries, three to four demanding surgeries per day. They expect that by the end of the year more than one thousand open heart surgeries in total will have been performed.

New methods of treatment
"This year we have introduced new methods of treatment; we are implementing new techniques at home and abroad, and we keep up with world trends. We started with the replacement of aortic arch and ascending aorta using minimal approach. The novelty is also the reconstruction of aortic valve, the surgery which we have performed approximately 40 times this year only. Where appropriate, we reconstruct the diseased or defective aortic valve instead of replacing it with an artificial valve," explained Tomislav Klokočovnik, head of the clinical department.

The waiting period for peripheral vascular surgery still remains, but next year it should be significantly shorter.

G. C., MMC
Translated by G. K.